Assuming the 2018 season goes off without a hitch, *eh hem*, the Chicago Cubs today unveiled their regular season broadcast schedule, which features the games once again divvied up locally between NBC Sports Chicago (formerly CSN), ABC-7, and WGN-9. The Cubs also are already slated for four ESPN games and four FOX games, though a fifth game is reserved as a possibility on each network.
Curiously, the season opener against the Marlins is not listed as an ESPN game, though ESPN had previously announced it would be their opening game. It is still listed on ESPN’s baseball schedule so hopefully that remains the case for folks who want to watch the national broadcast. It could just be that the Cubs simply want to highlight the fact that their local partner, WGN-9, will be broadcasting the game as well, with your hometown announcers.
For those WGN-9 and ABC-7 games, sometimes local affiliates in the Cubs’ blackout territory (Iowa, Illinois, some of Indiana, some of Wisconsin) pick up those games with individual station deals that are finalized very close to the start of the season. My fingers are crossed for you.